Once Bitten, No Longer Shy by Julie Steimle (to read list TXT) 📖

Troy stopped himself from checking out the shape of Dalton’s butt, as the man was very much his type.

Then came a trio of men in their late twenties. All three were bite victims who had become friends, bonding over their mutual problem. They came because they heard of the possibility for a cure. After that, the others all seemed to arrive in groups, each eyeing the others with suspicion, but also hope.

They were all welcomed into a room before the sun set, gathering in a semi-circle. Troy noticed that puppeteer lady was there among them, and had indeed brought a friend. Her friend looked scared, especially after seeing Troy standing the setting sunlight, unburned. But they both turned to the McAllisters with relief. Troy also noticed Deidre had arrived with Tom Brown, both of them pretending to be victims as well.

Refreshments, which Jane and William organized, were set out, and the visitors were encouraged to help themselves while they waited for those who could come only after sunset.

Hearing this, one of the visitor said with alarm, “Are you inviting vampires to this?”

Lowering his hoodie and taking off his sunglasses, Troy stepped forward and said, “We are inviting all vampire victims to this. And there are those victims like me but who are too afraid to go out in the sunlight.”

Several of them drew in breaths and stared. Some glanced nervously at the door, looking ready to escape.

But William McAllister came forward and said, “I’m vouching for him and the others I’ve invited. These are reluctant vampires who don’t imbibe. One of them is our host, Mr. Lenox, who has provided our meeting place.”

“But we do intend to separate our groups into a day group and a night group later, if safety is your concern,” Troy added. “We don’t want to put anyone in danger.”

William nodded to him and smiled. “Yes. Exactly.”

Daniel arrived around sunset. Afterwards, came a fit man who was pale, but he did not seem to be a bite victim at all, but he was not all gone vampire either. He exchanged one look with Troy, then stuck out his hand. “Cameron Ross. They force fed me vampire blood, but I threw it up. What about you?”

Troy gripped his hand. If his heart could beat, it would have beat faster. “Troy Meecham. A bite victim as a kid, and the Order of Blood hunted me down and forced blood down my throat also—but I was unable to throw it up.”

Cameron nodded. Troy could also detect a slight heartbeat from him. He was only vampirish—not wholly vampire. He clearly could walk in sunlight and did as a sort of defiance to the vampire world.

Then more came.

First entered a pair of men identifying as Orren Burcher and Fred Neinhaus, both of whom the bite victims immediately recoiled from. Troy could smell their fresh bleeds. That’s when it occurred to him—the victims had not reacted to him or Cameron. Only these two. These two were vampires who definitely drank blood.

Then came in a trio who, for some reason, felt off—like kids wanting to play cops and robbers among actual gangsters. Two women and a man. All three were dressed in goth attire, their clothes showing off their ‘bites’ which looked more like costume scar makeup than real bites, and clearly faux fangs. After the trio, two other men came in, then Mr. Lenox… followed by Peter, whom Troy admittedly admired, especially the breadth of his shoulders and shape if his arms. A lot of people drew in a breath when they saw Peter—who was, of course, famous, besides a good looking and fit athlete.

“Should be we begin?” Troy asked Mr. Lenox.

Mr. Lenox nodded then rose to speak. Every one sat within their chairs in varying degrees of anxiety and discomfort, their eyes resting on him.

“You’ve all been invited here for the formation of a vampire-victims support group, which we have yet to name.” Mr. Lenox seemed to sweat with all those eyes on him. It was not his usual self, as he was an excellent teacher familiar with such an environment. Yet perhaps it had to do with the presence of real vampires in their midst. “First, be forewarned, no SRA agents are allowed in their group.”

“What’s SRA?” One man raised his hand.

“Supernatural Regulator’s Association,” Troy said.

“There’s an associating for that?” one of the LARPers asked.

 “I thought SRA stood for Satanic Ritual Abuse,” another person said.

William McAllsiter spoke up. “It does, but there is also an organization with same acronym.”

“Secondly,” Mr. Lenox said with a raised voice, “If you are not a real bite victim, or a victim of the Order of Blood in any way shape or form, you are free to leave right now. The members here will not be preyed upon by any enterprising vampire. This group is not unprotected.”

People shifted in their seats, but no one moved. Mr. Lenox and Troy exchanged a look before giving a nod to Matthew then William McAllister. Both Matthew and William stepped forward. William led out a hand to Matthew.

“Hi, I’m Officer Calamori of the NYPD,” Matthew said. “And I will be your go-to guy in this city in case you are in serious trouble. If you have not yet received one of our business cards, claim one at the end of this meeting. I and my partner in this, Officer Joshua Johnson of NYPD homicide, have volunteered to be on call for whatever emergency needs you might have.”

“I got a question.” One of the LARPers raised his hand with a sardonic look to his friend. “What can a policeman do against a vampire? Do you keep wooden stakes in stock?”

Matthew laughed with him, nodding. “Yeah… laugh it up. You’re here just to play around, aren’t you? Come to look at the freaks? You and your gal pals?”

The LARPer scoffed. “No, dude. We’re real vampires. See my teeth?”

The ladies with him snickered. Those who truly knew vampires groaned in disgust.

But Matthew turned his gaze onto the rest of the crowd. He said, “Again, for those who sincerely need help, we’ll be there for you.” He then stepped back to allow William to speak.

“Hi. Most of you know me already,” William said. “But for those who don’t, I’m Doctor McAllister and I will assisting this group for any medical advice and help.”

“Is it true you are close to finding a cure for the bite?” a woman asked, eyes wide on him and his wife.

“Actually,” William said with a glance back to Troy, “This gentleman here, Troy Meecham is.”

All eyes went on him. Troy would have blushed if he could. He raised a hand and said, “I am close to a breakthrough. I am a graduate student of pharmacology and pathology, and I have been researching the cure since I started med school.”

“When did you become a vampire?” one of them asked accusatorily.

“The beginning of this month,” Troy said with eyes resting on him. He was a trim middle aged man who gave the impression of someone who worked in an office, yet was not an office worker. He felt borderline blue collar. He was also leaking blood—a genuine bite victim. Troy explained, “The Order of Blood caught up with me around the time where I was making my breakthrough, and I’ve been sort of in limbo since. I have, however, been fortunate enough to continue my research in a protected location.”

“Protected location?” someone echoed. It was the friend of Miss Puppeteer. She was a girl who looked like the kind of gal who partied—someone Troy would have called vampire bait. She seemed the emotional sappy sort that probably read vampire romance novels and had once thought such a romance would be an awesome idea. She probably did not think so now.

Troy nodded to her and her friend. “I know people in high places.” He waved his arms about at Matthew, JJ, and the McAllisters.

“He’s not joking either,” Matthew said. “We get funding from Deacon Enterprises, so we don’t have to worry about expenses.”

That sent a peculiar ripple through the group, unsettling some, calming others.

But someone gestured to Peter and said, “What about him? Is the Witchdoctor also hosting this? Or is this like community service?”

“Community service,” Peter called back, laughing. Then he said, “I’m a friend of a friend.”

“Anyway,” Mr. Lenox said with a glance to Peter as he also recognized the soccer player, “We need to set up our group’s bylaws and establish how often we meet and who will be officially allowed in.”

“What do you mean officially allowed in?” asked the frat boy. “Can’t we just show our bite and that’s it?”

“I want to see his bite,” someone said, pointing to Troy. Troy looked to see who it was. It was one of the latecomers, a definite vampire. He felt and sounded ancient.

“We’ll have time for that later,” Matthew said.

“No. I can show it now.” Troy stepped forward, lowering his collar to show the bite marks. After they got a good look he said, “The way we are going to do this is all the wannabe members must each be interviewed by our panel here.” He pointed to Matthew then Tom who had been sitting quietly in the room for some time, then Peter whom the group had picked out, and lastly Mr. Lenox. “If you pass the panel’s criteria, you are invited to stay in the group. If you do not, you are invited to leave. If you suspect that you won’t pass the panel, I invite you to leave now.”

No one left.

Sighing, Troy then nodded to Matthew and the others while he called for the rest to gather near the refreshments where they could chat and wait. He lingered among them, eavesdropping. It was really easy. Vampire hearing was impeccable.

“…come to this. These guys are crazy. They really believe there are vampires….”

“…come here for. There are real vampires in this room. If we leave now, we can get out before any of them can hurt me.”

“I don’t think we should go yet. Those cops are legit. I don’t know why I trust that guy, but I really do think he’s not lying. He might actually find a cure for your bleed.”

“…So, what are you? Bite victim or forced vampire?”

“Me? Victim. A stupid victim who had messed around with the wrong lady. Do you think that guy really can find a cure for the bleed?”

“I hope so. Dr. McAllister thought he could.”

“And you trust that doctor?”

“I know a lot about that doctor and his family. Do you know anything about his sister?”

“No. What about her?”

“I won’t spoil it. Let him tell you. But he knows more about handling vampires than anybody. And if he trusts that guy Meecham, then so will I.”

That was encouraging. Troy smiled to himself and wandered to where the interviews were taking place.

“…looks legit. Ok, Ms. Collins, welcome to the group,” Matthew said. “Will you step off into the side room there? Nurse McAllister and her friends will give you the orientation packet and help you go through it. They have a few gifts for group members they want to share that will ensure your continued safety. “Next!”

Troy watched the sexy Ms. Collins walk into that room and the gal with Puppeteer lady come up. The Puppeteer lady stood back near Troy.

“So, you’re legit,” she said.

Troy nodded.

The interviewee identified herself as Leslie Johnson, then she proceeded to tell the tale about how she had been, for lack of a better word, seduced by a vampire boyfriend who had strung her along, along with a few other gals she had not been aware of at the time. When she had decided to break up with him, she planned on a meeting where she could publicly dump him with witnesses. But at the moment she had planned to meet him, she ended up watching him get slaughtered by an SRA agent. Her vampire lover had been turned in to them by one of his other gals who had set him up after finding out he was having